Brian Kelly discusses the ‘standard’ Lane Kiffin will be held to at LSU
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Brian Kelly’s failure to lead LSU to the College Football Playoff led to his dismissal. Now, it’s Lane Kiffin‘s turn. Considering the big money LSU paid to lure him from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge, Kiffin will face massive expectations right away to not only lead the Tigers to the Playoff, but also win them a national championship.
Like Kiffin, Kelly left a comfortable gig for a much more lucrative one. While nowhere near the wavelength of Kiffin leaving Ole Miss, his decision to depart Notre Dame for LSU was an eyebrow-raising one. It didn’t work out. Today, Kelly holds no ill will toward LSU administration regarding his ouster, but he understands the much more immense pressure Kiffin faces to win immediately in his new gig.
“My thought, my going there was to build a program back up in all areas, holistically, academics, in the community, all those things, I am totally fine with who makes those decisions, because that’s part of this. This is the big poker table, you know,” Kelly said on SiriusXM College. “But at the end of the day, you got to win a national championship, and Lane will be held to that same standard.”
LSU has a big game right off the bat as it hosts Clemson in Week 1. Then, after facing Louisiana Tech, the Tigers head to Oxford to face Ole Miss in one of the most anticipated games of the season.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
